Pilley pushes through for 24 hour ride

BY THE time Morgan Pilley got off his bike to complete his non-stop 24 hour bike ride, he had racked up 764 laps, for a total of 611.2km, at an average speed of 25km an hour.

However when he wheeled his bike back to the main tent at the Junction Hill Criterium track at midday yesterday, he said he wasn't thinking about how sore his legs were, or the fact his voice was almost gone.

His thoughts were on how his efforts had raised money for local mental health services.

"The event is growing every year, we've had more riders and more donations, so it was really good to see a lot of people just coming out to ride as well as passing on their well wishes and make a donation as well," he said.

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In total, 79 riders took part in the Ride For Youth event for a combined total of 8,27 laps for a total of 6981.6km, and managed to match last year's fundraising total of $3555 before the pedalling even started.

New School of Arts general manager Skye Sear said the money raised will go directly to local youth mental health initiatives.

"We will look at doing more Youth Mental Health First Aid training like we did last year, and there are a few other different things in terms of responses to local mental health issues," she said.

"There's some really great options in front of us in terms of the types of things we can invest it in, and they're the things that will have immediate effect in our community.

"That was the great thing about Morgan when we brought the concept to us. He wanted something that was locally focused where the money stays in the area."

Mr Pilley said he was grateful to all of the support he and his fellow riders received over the 24 hour event.

"I had a lot of riders come out and support me, through the night it was a bit quiet but I just kept the legs ticking over and kept pumping away," he said.

"We've had some fantastic support from our major sponsors of our event. We had some fantastic support before the event even started, it's really getting some good momentum, and it's growing every year."